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The record is made up of 1 file (388 folios). It was created in 17 Jan 1899-4 Apr 1904. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
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24
NOTES ON PERSIAN SHISTAN.
Mules are not bred locally, and with the exception of 95 belonging to tho
Mules, os. Hashmafc-ul-Mulk there are none.
There are said to be 2 , 14.1 camels, of which the owners belong to Seisfcan,
but probably not more than two-thirds of
this number would be available, as many are
■cattered with caravans between Kaiu, Kerman, and Quetta.
They carry not more than 3 | maunds, and many are unable to carry even
as much. There are no riding camels in Seistan.
Donkeys, practically the sole means of local transport, I estimate to
■nonVflvn n 724 number 9 , 724 . They carry a maund to a
maund and a half at about miles an hour.
The number of cattle has, apparently, been much under-estimated in
n *41 rinn previous reports. A large number died
during the recent severe drought, but last
year ( 1902 - 03 )
Tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
4,800 were paid to the Government for the privilege
of collecting the cow-tax, which at the rate of 1 kran per head, makes the
total number 48 , 000 . It is probable that the individual who farms the tax
does not lose money however, and so this figure is likely to be short of the
mark.
The number of sheep and goats must beat least 250 , 000 , of which it is
Sheep and eoate. 250,000. f ti “ ated ‘ bat “T* 6 ”* 9 shee P ani1 one :
tenth goats. A tax of 1 kran per 15 head
used to be levied, but a year or two ago this was increased, and 1 kran for every
ten is the present rate. As the sum of
Tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
2,500 was paid to the Amir
by the individual who collected this tax, the number of sheep and goats
must be at least 250 , 000 . Dost Muhammad, the Chief of the Saruni
Baluohis in Seietan, who farmed this tax last year, admitted to me that
he had not lost money over the bargain, though he naturally objected to
stating the amount he had made, so the number is probably somewhat in
excess of the above figure.
The population in round numbers appears to be about 100,000. This
Population includes the nomads, who grazed their herds
and flocks in the outlying parts of Seistan,
as well as the village population.
ETHNOGRAPHY.
It would be a matter of some difficulty to detail all the different trikes
that have at various times migrated to Seistan and there found a home, and
indeed this would serve no useful purpose, for the successive waves of conquest
which have swept over this fertile province, have left but little power and
influence remaining to many formerly important tribes, while smaller clans
have lost their individuality owing to inter-marriage with other clans and to
having discarded their nomadic habits, and adopted a rural life in Seistan, where
they have gradually become absorbed in the mixed population of the country.
None of the tribes which will shortly be described, are of any importance
from a military point of view. They are not tribal units in the sense that
their head-men could place even a few hundred fighting men in the field, or
compel his adherents to oppose a foreign occupation of their country.
The tribes at present of most importance in Seistan are the following
Sinjarani, Nahrui, Sarbandi, Sharaki, Kaiani, Saruni, Jemalzai, Gurgicb,
Khimmar, Mir, and Saids.
About this item
- Content
The file contains papers relating to Seistan [Sistan] and Persia [Iran].
The file includes printed copies of despatches from the Agent to the Governor-General of India and HM Consul-General for Khorasan and Seistan (Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Martindale Temple), to the Secretary to the Government of India Foreign Department, with enclosed despatches from Captain Percy Molesworth Sykes to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (the Marquis of Salisbury). Skyes’s despatches regard matters including: Seistan; trade routes into South-East Persia; the boundary between Persia and Afghanistan, in relation to the River Helmund [Helmand] changing its course (in despatch No. 5, which includes four sketch maps, folios 12, 13, 14 and 15); Sykes’s journey to Birjand (in despatch No. 7, which includes a sketch map on folio 20); the ruling family of Kain, which also governed Seistan, Tabbas and Tun; Sykes’s journey from Seistan to Kerman [Kirman] (in despatch No. 11, which includes a sketch map); and the direct Kerman-Quetta caravan trade that Sykes was trying to establish.
The file also includes copies of the following papers:
- A despatch from Temple to the Secretary to the Government of India Foreign Department, enclosing a letter from Temple to Sir Henry Mortimer Durand (HM Minister, Tehran), with copies of enclosures, regarding the establishment of a Seistan and Kain consulate
- A letter from Charles Edward Pitman, Director General of Telegraphs, to the Secretary to the Government of India Public Works Department, enclosing a copy of a ‘Report on the Preliminary Survey of the Route for a Telegraph Line from Quetta to the Persian Frontier’ by H A Armstrong, Assistant Superintendent, Indian Telegraph Department, which includes six photographs of views along the route [Mss Eur F111/352, f 52; Mss Eur F111/352, f 53; Mss Eur F111/352, f 54; Mss Eur F111/352, f 55; Mss Eur F111/352, f 56; and Mss Eur F111/352, f 57], and a map showing the proposed route of the telegraph line [Mss Eur F111/352, f 59]
- Letters from Hugh Shakespear Barnes, Agent to the Governor-General in Baluchistan, to the Secretary to the Government of India Foreign Department, enclosing copies of the diary of the Political Assistant, Chagai, for the weeks ending 16 February, 28 February, and 8 March 1900
- Diary No. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 of Major-General George Frederick Chenevix-Trench, HM Consul for Seistan (Diary No. 6 includes a sketch map, folio 86)
- A copy of a ‘Report on Reconnaissances Made while Attached to the Seistan Arbitration Commission’ by W A Johns, Deputy Consulting Engineer for Railways, Bombay
- A copy of the report ‘Notes on Persian Seistan’, compiled by Captain Edward Abadie Plunkett, and issued by the Government of India Intelligence Branch, Quarter-Master General’s Department
- Two copies of map signed by Plunkett titled ‘Persian Seistan-Cultivated Area’ [Mss Eur F111/352, f 270]
- A booklet entitled ‘Notes on the Leading Notables, Officials, Merchants, and Clergy of Khorasan, Seistan, Kain, and Kerman.’
- Printed copies of letters from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India (Lord George Francis Hamilton), relating to the maintenance of British interests in Persia, dated 4 September 1899 and 7 November 1901 (the former with an enclosure of a minute by the Viceroy on Seistan).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (388 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 390; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. The file contains one foliation anomaly, f 301A
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/352
- Title
- 'Seistan'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:51v, 58r:58v, 60r:112r, 113r:125v, 147r:218r, 218r, 219r:269v, 271r:301v, 301Ar, 301Av, 302r:388v, 389v:390r, 389r, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence